Chile - dry
Day 193: Monday September 27th 2004. This is actually my second Monday 27th of September, a product of crossing the international date line. Does that mean I live a day longer or shorter?!
Arrived in Chile, with jet lag. Got into a taxi at the airport, which after attempts at a push start, jump start and finally borrowing a battery from another taxi, started. Welcome to Chile! Booked into a cheapish hotel and had trouble sleeping due to the time difference.
Day 194: Tuesday September 28th 2004. Woke up at 2:30pm, had a wander around the city doing a bit of shopping, internet, all that stuff. Got myself a, very unsatisfactory, haircut. You would think a sharp pair of trimmers were a necessity in a barbers, but obviously not! During lunch I watched Aaron ditch eighteen years of vegetarianism and tuck into a hot dog.
In the evening, we went out for a drink or two and ended up chatting to some street vendors for ages, teaching each other our respective languages, whilst handing out cigarettes in exchange for beer. After that, Aaron and I ended up playing computer games until 4am - probably not the best thing for jetlag.
Day 195: Wednesday September 29th 2004. Woke up at 2:30pm AGAIN! I'm really struggling with this time difference thing - usually I'm ok, but that flight from NZ over the date line seems to have messed me up a good 'un. Went shopping for some clothes, as my one and only pair of long trousers have torn right across the bum - damn Fat-Face gear, aint what it used to be!
Had a ham pizza that night, which tasted a bit funny...
Day 196: Thursday September 30th 2004. Caught our flight from Santiago to Calama. My guts are feeling decidedly dodgy, and I've had one or two trips to the loo than is normal.
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| Suitcase stacking at Santiago airport - precarious |
On arriving at Calama, we couldn't help but notice how desolate the place was - not a tree or bush or anything green in sight. We are on a plateau 2800 metres above sea level, which is high enough to warrant a bit of acclimatisation to the altitude. A quick read of the lonely planet guide showed revealed that going to Calama itself was probably a bad idea, on account of there being nothing there. We ended up hooking up with a German couple and sharing a taxi to San Pedro de Atacama, a bit of a backpacker's haven an hours drive from Calama airport. Took a walk around the charming Adobe style town, had some somewhat expensive, but tasty food, and no beer, due to guts of dodgyness. Went home and got friendly with the manager here and two Chilean guests (Symon, manager, Fernando and Maribel). The three of them plied us with wine, coca tea and local smokes, which they insisted would help my dodgy guts. It was a very jovial affair, and a really good insight into how friendly and helpful the locals are. It was also a very good Spanish learning exercise, with constant references to the phrase books! Since my guts were still far from fine, I went to bed ahead of Aaron, who rolled up a bit later whinging about his head spinning! Still couldn't sleep until late...
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| Maribel, Fernando, Symon, Aaron and yours truly |
Day 197: Friday October 1st 2004. Woke up late as usual. My bout of food poisoning seems to be abating, but I still ended up spending the day lazing in the sun. It is so hot and dry here during the day, and freezing and dry at night. My lips are cracking like I'm at a ski resort! Had dinner with Symon, Fernando and Maribel again. The wine tonight was a different brand, cheaper I think, as I ended up being very sick during the night, even though I only had two glasses. Aaron was more than sympathetic, demanding that I make less noise when being sick in future, as I had disturbed his beauty sleep. Git. Jet-lag, food poisoning, altitude adjustment, acclimatisation and dodgy wine - man, this place takes a bit of getting used to!
Day 198: Saturday October 2nd 2004. Woke up late again, but feeling much better. Went out for a walk around San Pedro, The whole place is built abobe style - sticks and mud. It really is quite picturesque. It's an odd feeling walking in the blistering heat looking up at snow-capped mountains and volcanoes. It is dusty, hot, and just how you would imagine in the movies! Finally got an early night.
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| San Pedro de Atacama |
Day 199: Sunday October 3rd 2004. Woke up at 10:30am - it's good to be finally adjusting to the time zone! Went for a walk around the village and checked out the museum. Saw a good few mummies, not a lot else...
Day 200: Monday October 4th 2004. Went for a 25km bike ride through the most arid desert on the planet today. Was uncomfortable! Didn't even get to our final destination before sundown - La Valle de la Luna. Blaming Aaron, him and his daft ideas...
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| The road is long... |
Day 201: Tuesday October 5th 2004. Chilled all day. In the evening, Symon introduced us to a mate of his called Alexander, and persuaded us to go visit the Valle de la Luna again. Even though I had misgivings about it being dark, we allowed ourselves to be talked into it. Here's a picture of the best view:
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| You can see the Milky Way... |
Nope, never did get to see the Valle de la Lunas...
Day 202: Wednesday October 6th 2004. Last day in San Pedro de Atacama. Alexander took us on a longer tour to take in Pukar of Quitor, an early (150 years BC) Atacameno fortress, and got a bit lost around the river valley looking for other old settlements. We found another, around an area called Devils Gorge.
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| El Pukara di Quitor | View over San Pedro | San Pedro River |
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| Unknown settlement |
Symon fed us Tortilla and rice for lunch, which went down a storm. Had a few beers in the evening, said our farewells and got on a bus to Iquique for a last minute bit of civilisation before getting into some 'serious' South American travelling - Peru and Bolivia...
Day 203: Thursday October 7th 2004. Arrived in Iquique around 6am, having slept as well as you can on a bus. Booked into a hostel with loads of character and got a few more hours sleep.
Day 204: Friday October 8th 2004. Spent the day sorting out supplies for the next bit at the 'Zona Franca' (duty free) shopping mall just outside town. Then backed up my laptop onto a hard drive, ready for sending home.
Day 205: Saturday October 9th 2004. DHL are shut today. Damn! Big Rum session in the evening.
Day 206: Sunday October 10th 2004. Slept and ate! A wee bit hungover...
Day 207: Monday October 11th 2004. DHL are closed again, as it's bank holiday, so caught the bus up to Aquipa and then negotiated (with much fuss) a taxi across the border to Tacna in Peru. Checked into a cheap, cushy hostel.